McCain – Saakashvili – Obama on the back of the bloody August events

Despite the change in leader of the White House, America's attitude towards Georgia is unlikely to change: it will still remain the most important strategic partner for the USA in the South Caucasus, and a potential ally in the geopolitical landscape of the Middle East.

But will relations between Barack Obama and Mikheil Saakashvili remain just as warm, some might say hot, as they were between the latter and George Bush? Probably not. In any case, Obama gave an unfavourable assessment of Mikheil Saakashvili, calling him a politically weak figure. Adding: "That's why there'll be a new president in Georgia". Admittedly, that was in September, so before Obama's election as president of the USA. Nevertheless, it would be interesting to see what has caused Obama's attitude towards the most faithful ally of the United States. Let's look back at the events of early August last year.

For the uninitiated, the invasion of peacefully sleeping Tskhinvali by Georgian troops on the night of 8 August was like a bolt from the blue. Yes, Saakashvili was constantly blowing hot air, but people had grown accustomed to his hawkish rhetoric and didn't pay much attention to it. Everyone, that is, except the Russian military.

At the start of August a powerful Russian army unit was concentrated by the northern entrance to the Rok tunnel, ready to advance on Tskhinvali at any moment. It had just, on 2 August, less than a week before the start of the fighting, finished the "Caucasus 2008" exercises, in which ground troops, the parachute regiments, the air force, the marine corps and the navy had been working through coordinated actions in case of an invasion of South Ossetia by Georgian troops. Once the exercises were completed, the strike formations remained in a state of heightened alert.

But why did Saakashvili choose 8 August exactly to storm Tskhinvali? Just because on that day the Olympic Games were opening in Beijing, and the attention of the whole world was fixed on this colourful event?

This was taken into account, but no more than that. The main emphasis was placed on carrying out a lightning strike. The American military advisers who devised operation "Clean Field" had considered everything, apart from just one aspect: only a fully battle-hardened army can carry out a successful lightning strike. The Georgian soldiers had been well trained by American instructors, and were armed with the very latest equipment. However, they had never experienced battle. And this is the main thing in a war.

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